Lefdal Mine Datacenter expand power capacity with 60 MW

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Lefdal Mine Datacenter have added 60 MW power capacity to our underground data center campus in Norway. With a connection to the regional 132 kV power network, the facility increases the available power to the data center from 20 MW to 80 MW. 20 MW is reserved for current customers.

Security

When expanding the power capacity, Lefdal Mine Datacenter decided to build the transformers in separated mountain halls deep inside the mountain. Main reason for this is to secure the transformers and prevent access. Access either by people or by drones/other unfriendly activity. We see in the world today that investing in protecting the power infrastructure is needed. With this Lefdal Mine Datacenter strengthens the position as one of the most secure data centers in the Nordics.

Modular growth

The power capacity has been expanded in modules of 30 MW transformers. Mountain halls are prepared for future expansions. New transformers will be installed when expanding total facility capacity. Last mile grid has been reinforced to 200 MW and is constructed with separated entry points and drilled pathways to the transformer locations.

Leading low power price in Europe

Lefdal Mine Datacenter owns the transformers, and they are connected directly on the 132 kV power grid. This secures our clients a low cost of power transmission which is a part of the total power cost. Lefdal Mine Datacenter offers a leading low power price in Europe and expect the long-term pricing to be around 3,8 cent/kWh.

Welcome Sigma2 and NIRD

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Lefdal Mine Datacenter has joined the iMasons Climate Accord

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Lefdal Mine Datacenter has joined the iMasons Climate Accord. This is a historic coalition designed to govern a methodology to measure and reduce carbon in the infrastructure through products, power, and materials.

More than 70 companies have already joined – including the hyperscalers Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Meta and Google. We all agree the key to achieving carbon neutrality is by uniting together.

Lefdal Mine Datacenter nominated for 4 awards at DCS Awards

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Lefdal Mine Datacenter is nominated for 4 awards at DCS Awards. The DCS Awards are designed to reward the product designers, manufacturers, suppliers and providers operating in data center arena. Voting will determine the winners. Votes can be registered at www.dcsawards.com/vote from 4th April to 6th May 2022. Winners will be announced on the 26th of May 2022 in London.

Lefdal Mine Datacenter is nominated in the following categories:

  • Data Centre Hosting/co-location Supplier of the Year
  • Data Centre Sustainability Project Of The Year
  • Outstanding Contribution to Sustainability and Efficiency Award
  • Data Centre Manager of the Year

We thank the jury for the nominations.

Lefdal Mine Datacenter nominated to “Excellence in Data Centre Europe”

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Lefdal Mine Datacenter has been shortlisted in the category “Excellence in Data Centre Europe” at the Datacloud Global Awards 2022. The award is founded on innovation, efficiency and leadership in the European data center industry. The winner will be revealed on 25 April at the Datacloud Awards in Monaco.

 

Lefdal Mine Datacenter nominated for the “Green Data Centre of the Year”

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Lefdal Mine Datacenter is nominated for the “Green Data Centre of the Year” award at Data Centre World – London. We thank the jury for the nomination. Sustainability is at the core of our mission and values and our ambition is to deliver the most sustainable data center services in the world.

The Norwegian Solution: Greener, faster – and more customers

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From a data center perspective, 2021 will be remembered for Covid-19 ups and downs, and for extraordinary high level of power prices in Europe. Norway has also experienced price levels not seen before – even though at a much lower level. However, power pricing within Norway has substantial regional variations, which has benefitted customers in Lefdal Mine Datacenter (LMD) throughout the year.

Sustainability – the most important competitive advantage
Digitalization in all sectors is increasing demands for data center capacity. Data centers located close to renewable power production are far more sustainable than those needing to transport power over long distances. Due to its unique location, LMD has immediate access to massive volumes of hydro power production. As a result, there is minimum transmission loss, and the power transformed to data is then exported via existing fiber network to our end customers.
LMD has been nominated in the final in the Sustainability Award at eco – Association of the Internet Industry and won the ITA award for the World’s Most Innovative and Contributing Underground Space. Add our ongoing plans for reusing the heated water for local fish-farming, LMD is offering a world leading sustainable data center solution.

Additional 60 MW renewable power
There are now multiple players requiring power within a variety of industries including hydrogen and battery factories as well as data centers. These operations need public approval of concession applications which can be time-consuming and complex processes. LMD’s concession was granted in 2019 and during next summer LMD will have access to a further 60 MW of power at 132 kV of voltage, benefitting existing and new customers with additional power availability and lower grid costs.

Daimler and Sigma2 acknowledge LMD as sustainable, cost effective and secure
We have all faced an uncertain external environment again this year. So LMD is gratified to report that by focusing on our clients, we have gone from strength to strength in 2021. We have structured bids won with both Daimler (through Infosys) and Sigma2, acknowledging LMD as a high-end player in the data center industry, with LMD scoring highest on all decision criteria in both tender processes.

LMD partners strengthening our value proposition
LMD has always had a strong belief in partnership with mutual benefit. In line with this approach, we are developing ambitious sales and marketing plans with our co-owner Rittal. This ecosystem will provide sustainable, secure, and cost-effective solutions to end-clients with various needs. We also have developed plans with Infosys to introduce new customers in the High-Performance Computing segment – “Green Data Center as a Service”. IBM and Kyndryl are other partnerships we are bringing to the market. Together these relationships, and the services we will deliver, create a great ecosystem of competence and market access with large potential.

Partnering locally to integrate resources and create scale
There are a variety of fields of competence needed to build and operate a top-class data center. In the area surrounding LMD there are several industries with this required competence: Electro, automation, IT, piping, contractors, etc. All our subcontractors have been integrated into LMD since we started building the facility in 2015. This enables LMD to have a lean organization, and recruit according to customer demands.

Our owners give LMD additional strength
Committed, solid long-term owners are a fundamental to attracting solid, long-term customers. In Columbia Threadneedle Investments and Rittal, LMD has owners that meet all these criteria. In addition, the LMD team know that our hands-on owners share our enthusiasm and belief in the Vision: The Norwegian Solution.

Thank you,
Jørn Skaane
CEO

Winner – ITA awards

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Lefdal Mine Datacenter has won the ITA awards in the category “Innovative & Contributing Underground Spaces”. The transformation of a former mine into a data center is a sustainable act in itself. In addition, the Lefdal Mine Datacenter are in accordance with several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and deliver a world leading sustainable data center solution. The nominations were gathered from 78 nations, and we are proud to win the award. We dedicate this award to the founders of Lefdal Mine Datacenter for bringing their idea to life, and to our partners and suppliers with Sibelco and Sintef as forerunners for their contribution to the actual transformation process. Lefdal Mine Datacenter – The Norwegian Solution!

Daimler is through Infosys moving their HPC cluster to Lefdal Mine Datacenter

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Lefdal Mine Datacenter has through Infosys signed a large data center agreement with Daimler AG (Mercedes). Daimler will move its High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster to Lefdal Mine Datacenter. The agreement will help Daimler achieve its goals of becoming a carbon-neutral company. Daimler uses the global IT giant Infosys to operate its IT infrastructure. Infosys delivers “Green Data Center as a Service” to Daimler from the facility in Nordfjord. Based on the agreement, Infosys and Lefdal Mine Datacenter have also entered into a partnership to provide services for other global customers who want green data center solutions to achieve their climate goals.

PRESS RELEASE

Infosys Collaborates with one of Europe’s Greenest Data Center to accelerate Daimler’s transition to sustainable mobility

 

  • Lefdal Mine Datacenter offers one of Europe’s greenest data center ecosystems and is one of the world’s most energy efficient solutions
  • Infosys provides ‘Green Data Center as a Service’, part of Infosys Cobalt to facilitate Daimler on its journey to net zero
  • The offering provides a blueprint for organizations looking to accelerate decarbonization across industries

Stuttgart, Germany – November 30, 2021: Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced that it will transfer Daimler’s High Performance Computing (HPC) workloads used to design vehicles and automated driving technologies to one of Europe’s greenest data centers, Lefdal Mine Datacenter in Norway. The shift to Green Data Center as a Service is an important milestone in supporting Daimler deliver on its sustainability mission “Ambition 2039” to become CO2 neutral by 2039.

Data centers currently account for around 1% of total global energy use and service demand is expected to increase 60% by 2022. As next generation technologies continue to develop, engineering and other high-performance workloads that run complex algorithms such as those required for simulating sensors and journeys for autonomous vehicles will be increasingly critical to automakers’ competitiveness in the mobility industry. Yet, these workloads are extremely energy consuming and contribute considerably to the carbon footprint of enterprises worldwide.

Building on its strategic partnership with Daimler to drive hybrid cloud-powered innovation and transform IT infrastructure, Infosys offered a solution to facilitate Daimler shift HPC’s to green infrastructure using Infosys’ Data Center as a Service (DCaaS) offering in the Nordics region. Through the initiative, Infosys will manage the IT infrastructure in its entirety and Lefdal Mine Datacenter will provide the facility, a world leading sustainable and energy efficient data center.

Norway is becoming a “superpower” for green data centers given that 100% of the power production in the region is renewable, and transmission loss reduced to a minimum. Lefdal Mine Datacenter offers one of Europe’s greenest data center solutions, supplying capacity that is both air-cooled and water-cooled.

The data center is situated in a mine next to a deep, cold fjord with a stable and low temperature for effective cooling.  Compared to air cooled data centers, Lefdal Mine Datacenter is not affected by warm days, and doesn’t require evaporative systems for cooling, with water usage effectiveness also rated zero. This system leads to a PUE ranging from 1.10 to 1.15 depending on UPS configuration and scale of capacity. The data center offers a world leading location for HPC environments.

The Green Data Center is the latest addition to Infosys Cobalt Hybrid Cloud portfolio, a blueprint consisting of a combination of Regional Private Data Centers covering all major continents, Edge Data Centers and Hyperscalers. For Daimler, partnering with Infosys to reimagine its data center operations in Lefdal Mine Datacenter will have a significant impact in delivering on its sustainability goals, and demonstrates the huge opportunity for other organizations to benefit from the industry-leading offering.

Jan Brecht, Chief Information Officer, Daimler and Mercedes-Benz, said: “A large proportion of our IT energy consumption comes from our data centers which require significant power for computing and cooling. That’s why we’re transforming our data centers with the support of our partner Infosys, bringing particularly the high-performance computing into one energy efficient solution at Lefdal Mine Datacenter. Not only will we benefit from natural cooling thanks to the cold weather, our operations will also be run on 100% green energy. This initiative marks another important milestone on our journey to becoming Co2 neutral”.

Salil Parekh, Chief Executive Officer, Infosys, said: “Infosys is a strategic partner to organizations navigating decarbonization and we are well positioned to deliver sustainable green transformation leveraging expertise gained from decade long efforts in environment stewardship. We pioneer projects around the world across every industry to facilitate climate change actions, developing solutions and services to help clients in their low-carbon transition. In delivering this transformation for Daimler we’ve shown how Green Infrastructure as a Service can radically reduce organizations’ impact on the environment and the vast potential for other organizations running high compute enterprise workloads to benefit from this industry-leading sustainability offering.”

Jørn Skaane, Chief Executive Officer, Lefdal Mine Datacenter AS, said: “We have built and operate a leading sustainable, secure and cost-effective data center – The Norwegian Solution. With short travelled renewable power and cooling from the nearby fjord, sustainability is in the core of our mission and values. Our ambition is to be the greenest data center in the world, with the ability to offer tailor-made and scalable data center solutions. We are inspired to have been chosen to host Daimler HPC workloads and will contribute for Daimler to become CO2 neutral.”

Jan Christian Vestre, Minister of Trade and Industry in the Norwegian Government, said: “I wish to congratulate the parties on reaching this important milestone. Lefdal Mine Datacenter, based on the reuse of industrial infrastructure and locally produced energy, is an excellent example of how Norwegian data centers and industrial knowhow can help industries of the future achieve their goals of decarbonization.”

Lefdal Mine Datacenter to host Sigma2

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National supercomputers and storage systems

Lefdal Mine Datacenter has been awarded the contract from Sigma2 to host their future national supercomputers and storage systems. Sigma2 is responsible for running the Norwegian e-infrastructure for research and higher education in Norway.

In the tender competition, Lefdal Mine Datacenter received the highest score on the technical, environmental, and social assessments. We look forward to beeing a part of the ecosystem for these national important services.

Full press release from Sigma2: https://www.sigma2.no/sigma2-chooses-national-provider-data-centre